Does a court have a duty to appoint a court-appointed interpreter for an indigent, non-English speaking litigant in a civil small claims proceeding?

California, United States of America


The following excerpt is from Jara v. Municipal Court, 145 Cal.Rptr. 847, 21 Cal.3d 181, 578 P.2d 94 (Cal. 1978):

Fully in consort with the considerations involved in these criminal proceedings, in Gardiana v. Small Claims Court (1976) 59 Cal.App.3d 412, 130 Cal.Rptr. 675 the court expressly held for the first time that an indigent, non-English-speaking litigant in a civil small claims proceeding was entitled to be furnished with a court-appointed interpreter at county expense if no competent volunteer interpreters were available. Recognizing the fundamental importance of the use of language in the small claims proceeding, the court reasoned that its statutory duty to appoint an interpreter when the prescribed circumstances so required (see Evid.Code, 752) and its inherent power to appoint an interpreter whenever justice so required, compelled its conclusion that it was required to appoint an interpreter free of charge to translate the proceedings for an indigent, civil litigant. 1 (Id., at pp. 423-424, 130 Cal.Rptr. 675.)

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